EDC wants transfer of release of COs to DTI

MANILA, Philippines –
The public-private Export Development Council (EDC) wants the release of
certificates of origin (CO) to be transferred from the Bureau of Customs (BOC)
to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) or the Philippine Economic Zone
Authority (PEZA) for better facilitation.

EDC deputy executive
director Emmarita Mijares said the transfer is allowed under the Customs
Modernization and Tariff Act (CMTA) as the law indicates that “the certificate
of origin can be transferred to another agency.”

Mijares said the EDC is
now working on having the COs issued not by the BOC but by the DTI or the PEZA.

“Right now what is
being studied is having the function of COs releases moved to PEZA and DTI,”
she said.

Mijares said globally
it is only the Philippines and Singapore which still issue the COs through the
customs agency.

In other countries, she
said, COs “are given by their trade and industry agencies or the chambers of
commerce.”

By successfully
including a provision in the CMTA allowing for the transfer of the function,
Mijares said there is now a legal basis for pursuing such an initiative.

However, she said the
transfer may not happen in the coming year yet because of the many details that
still need to be resolved.

“Actually 2017 is too
early. But at least the work on it has started and there is a legal basis for
it. We fought hard for the legal basis and that is the more important thing,”
Mijares said.

The EDC is a public-private
partnership created by the government to develop and oversee the implementation
of the Philippine Export Development Plan (PEDP) and coordinate the formulation
and implementation of policy reforms to support the plan.

Under the PEDP
2015-2017, Mijares said the focus would be on diversifying markets and
products, and identifying and developing export capabilities in products where
global demand is growing.

She said the plan is
also to address bottlenecks that undermine the competitiveness of exporters, and
boost the potential of goods and services where the Philippines can be
competitive.

EDC expects there will
be more outbound business missions abroad next year, tapping new markets such
as Russia and Iran.